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Map and Mod Wiki/Broadcast Tool Manual
Nota Bene The WIC Broadcasting Tool is not an official consumer released tool, and as such not a part of the retail version of World in Conflict. The tool has been developed separately and has not undergone retail-class QA testing. There may be issues or bugs, please report these to report@wic.massgate.net, although since the tool is for free (and for fun) please remember that it is classified as “unsupported”. The WIC Broadcasting Tool is under continuous development, so please make sure you have the latest version. Requirements The Broadcasting Tool requires a Vista PC, with two monitors capable of displaying the same resolution. A DX10-capable graphics card is required, and while any such card should work, it is recommended to use a GeForce 8800 GTX or better. SLI does not support dual-screen, so don’t bother with more than one card. (There is experimental support for DX9 in single-screen mode.) The tool draws to two screens as any game or application would. Capturing or converting the video output from the graphics card to a different format – if required – is the responsibility of the user. How To Install An existing World in Conflict build is required. Installing the Broadcasting tool amounts to copying the provided files into the game directory (where “wic.exe” is.) Simply launch the Broadcast Tool executable instead of WiC to run the tool. Always use the very latest graphics drivers available. Setup Set up a dual-screen desktop in Windows (not using virtual wide desktop features found in some graphics card control panels.) Both screens should be using the same resolution. Launch the game and set graphics options as desired. Set the game resolution to the same as the desktops. To test the tool, create a LAN game and add some AI bots to it. Always test in the intended setting before a live event, as observing a self-hosted game will not expose potential incompatibilities between different versions of the game, tool, and data files. If you intend to record video files, you will also need to install a video encoder in order to achieve acceptable results. We recommend FFDShow, which can be obtained from www.free-codecs.com. Compatibility The Broadcasting Tool can be tested by observing an AI match using data from just about any recent build of World in Conflict, but in order to observe a match on Massgate you need a tool version that is compatible with the Massgate servers and the data belonging to the current game client. Feature Overview The WIC Broadcast Tool is intended to make it very easy to broadcast a WIC match, and to make it spectator-friendly. The tool can be used Live, on Replays, and regardless of if the tool is on the Server or not. (There are some features that function differently depending on if the tool is on the Server or not. See Caveats). The tool uses two screens, the LOCAL SCREEN and the BROADCAST SCREEN. The local screen contains the controls for operating the tool, and the broadcast screen shows what the viewers will see. There are two main modes of operation for the local screen – CAMERA ARRAY and MIRROR. Mirror mode shows the same view as the broadcast screen and allows selection of units in the world. It is also used when drawing. The camera array displays several different camera views, described below. Command Point Cameras These are pre-stored camera-angles for each of the command points on each map, for instance the Saw Mill camera, the South Town camera etc. The preview is also color-coded so you always know which team is controlling it. Stored Camera Position 1-4 These are stored camera positions that the producer has created with a simple hotkey function. They can be changed/saved any time, and they allow the producer to find his favorite camera angles and always have the option to jump back to them. Press Ctrl+F5 to Ctrl+F8 to store a camera position. Tactical Aid Warning Camera This is a view that is automatically spawned when a player (any player) places a tactical aid. It shows the location of the Tactical Aid, a countdown until the strike, and the name of the player or team that placed it. (See Caveats.) For some Tactical Aids, a split-screen view will be displayed, where the bottom half displays the delivering aircraft. When this happens, clicking the bottom half of the camera view will broadcast this camera instead of the one overlooking the target area. Megamap View This is the megamap, showing an overview of the entire battlefield from a top-down perspective with a numerical grid and live updates from the match. Live Feed What is being shown on the broadcast screen is also showed as one of the screens on the Array screen. This means that the producer sees what is being broadcast, even when the broadcast screen is hidden from view. This screen has the word LIVE written over it and is usually located at the bottom right corner of the array screen. Drawing Tool The producer can draw on screen with white, blue or red. The pen can be used in preview mode, i.e. on the Preview Screen only, and of course at any time on the Broadcast Feed. The drawing tool can be used on any background, i.e. on live action, slow-motion sequences, Megamap etc. Drawing Arrows To generate pre-designed arrows on the screen, press and hold the right-mouse button and then release when the arrow is in the desired position. Follow Cam The producer can set the camera to automatically follow any unit from any team in any view. Team Field of View Options The producer can toggle between showing what the Blue Team, Red Team or both teams can see. Quick Statistics This is a list of statistics that the gamers don't have access to in the normal game that is very helpful when you analyze the match trend. Change Gamespeed This is only possible if you are using the tool on a Replay, but it allows you to either fast-forward the game, or set the timescale to slow-motion. (Rewind is not available). Rotate Individual Camera Feed On almost all camera feeds there is an option to jump to the location and set the camera in automatic motion. This is symbolized by an oval arrow-button on the relevant feed. The rotation circles around the position in a circular, looped pattern. Rotate Main Camera Feed Press the button with the oval-shaped arrow in the main toolbar to latch on the camera to an eternal camera-loop that flies all across the battlefield. Video Recording What is being shown on the broadcast screen can be recorded to an AVI file. Using the Tool Toggle Camera Array/Mirror Press Caps Lock or click the camera array toolbar icon to toggle the camera array on or off. Select Camera Feed To choose the camera feed you want to broadcast, simply left-click on the preview on the Local Screen. Moving the Camera To move the in-game camera on the Broadcast Feed, use the normal game controls, i.e. WASD, mouse wheel and middle mouse button. (See WIC manual for details on camera control). Store a Selected Camera Position To create a Store Camera Position, press Ctrl+F5 to Ctrl+F8. This automatically overwrites previous saves. To delete all currently stored positions, use the “RESET” button. Using the Drawing Tool To bring up the Drawing tool, press Z or click one of the pen icons in the toolbar. Z will cycle between drawing on the Local Screen only / broadcasting the drawing / and erasing the drawing. The toolbar icons has the same options. The right mouse button is used to create arrows. To change pen color, please use the interface. You can clear the drawing by pressing X or click on Erase (X) in the toolbar. Automatically Follow Unit To stick the camera on a unit, select the desired unit (press Caps Lock or the camera array icon to hide the camera array first if required) and press F or click the bull’s-eye toolbar icon. Using F, the icon, or any of the WASD keys will detach the camera. Toggle Chevrons On/Off Click the chevron toolbar icon to toggle display of unit icons. View Statistics Click the statistics toolbar icons or numpad key 1/2 to toggle statistics. The statistics can be shown on the local and broadcast screens individually. Statistics Explanation The following data is available: *Domination - The domination standing. (Not in Assault.) *Perimeter Points - How many perimeter points belong to command points that the team controls. I.e. how much the team is “pushing” the domination bar. *Fortification - The percentage of controlled perimeter points that are fortified (Domination only.) *Veterans - The number of units in the highest two ranks. (Server only.) *Reinforcement Points - The total number of available and unspent reinforcement points. (Server only.) *TA Points - The total number of Tactical Aid points. (Server only.) *Score from TA - Total score received from Tactical Aids. (Server only.) *TA Efficiency - Score from TAs divided by amount of TA points spent. (Server only.) *TA's Used - The number of TAs used. *Favourite TA - The most-used TA, and the number of times it was used. The name of the TA starts with a “+” if more than one TA was used the same number of times. Only one TA is displayed. *Kills - The number of killed enemy units. Change Gamespeed To change the game speed, use the Pause/Play/FFWD buttons in the toolbar or press Ctrl+Z to Ctrl+N. The game speed can only be changed when viewing replays and on AI-only games. Record Video Click the record button to toggle video recording on/off. Videos are saved in “Documents\World in Conflict Broadcasting\Videos.” The first time recording is activated, and any following time shift is pressed while clicking the button, a configuration dialog will appear. It is recommended that you select “ffdshow Video Codec” in the “Compressor” dropdown list. Then press “Configure…” and select “Windows Media Video 9” in the “Encoder” dropdown in the window that appears. Team Colours For practical purposes, the Broadcast Tool always uses RED for USSR teams, and BLUE for US or NATO teams. Save Replay To make sure you will not forget to save the replay of an important match, press 0 or type “Producer.AutosaveReplay 1” in the console to enable automatic saving when the match ends. The Interface Caveats If you want to observe a game on Massgate, you need a Massgate account. Team field of view changes will be recorded in replays, but not fully. Avoid changing the field of view if you intend to save a replay of the game. Servers may limit the number of team changes allowed. Avoid overusing the team field of view changes. Most of the statistics are only available when the broadcasting tool is also acting as server for the game. Some of the statistics that are available when running as a client only cover the observed session – since the broadcasting tool joined the game. When running as client, Tactical Aid cameras will only show the name of the player who ordered the strike if the field of view is set to that player’s team – otherwise the team name is displayed instead. Team names can only be detected when playing on Massgate servers, and are not saved in replays. Clan matches are essentially untested. If there are problems observing a clan match then try to arrange for the match some other way. The team LOS features may potentially be used as a workaround for problems if you can manage to join the server. Fail-Safes If Massgate is not available, for example in a LAN game or when a replay is being played back, then team names can be set manually if desired. Open the console and type “Producer.LeftTeam Teamname1” and “Producer.RightTeam Teamname2”, where “Teamname1” and “Teamname2” are the names of the teams. Only ASCII characters are supported in the team names when set this way, and if the teams change sides then the names will need to be swapped manually. If the TA deployment sounds are not desired, they can be disabled by typing “Producer.PlayDeploySounds 0” in the console. Troubleshooting First of all, make sure you can run the standard World in Conflict executable in DX10 and dual-screen mode. SLI is not supported when using dual-screen (driver limitation), so always disable SLI before using the Broadcasting Tool. Category:Map and Mod Wiki/Broadcast tool